The present invention relates to the art of drip-type coffee-making apparatus and, in particular, to a new apparatus which improves brewing.
It is known in the art of coffee-making to prepare hot coffee by passing water, usually at or just below boiling temperature, through coffee grounds which are prevented from passage with the water by a filter such as a permeable paper membrane.
One of the principal problems involved in brewing coffee in this fashion, especially small quantities of coffee, is the difficulty in getting the hot water to become intimately associated with all of the grounds in order to obtain efficient extraction of the coffee. If a small quantity of coffee is placed in the basket of a conventional drip coffee maker or percolator, there is difficulty in wetting the grounds so that they do not simply float to the surface of the water with little extraction taking place. In addition, there is a tendency for the water to form channels through a thin bed of coffee, and extraction of coffee will be achieved in only limited areas of the bed of grounds. It is for this reason that most present approaches to the brewing of coffee in this manner, and in particular a cup or two of coffee, in a drip coffeemaker often involve the use of the encapsulated grounds.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,751 Gronwick et al discloses a coffee brewing receptable 22 which may be used as a drinking vessel or mug. A basket 24 is adapted to rest or sit on upper edges of the cylindrical walls of the receptacle 22, while a filter 32 having a flat bottom 32a and generally currugated side wall 32b is supported on radiating spokes 24d. The radiating spokes 24d, along with rim portion 24f, define another wall 24h around the periphery thereof to stabilize the basket. A generally cup-shaped liner 28 fits within basket 24 over coffee dispersed on filter paper 32 to maintain a consistency of the physical distribution of the coffee while hot water is added to make the filtered coffee. However, the Gronwick et al apparatus requires an intricately designed attachment means to retain the basket 24 and the liner 28 in assembled relationship. Furthermore, there is but limited means to restrict the rate of flow of water through the coffee grounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,504 Yamamoto also shows a coffee set for making coffee which is directed to a funnel-shaped dripping body 4 disposed in an outer case 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,525 to Stover discloses a funnel having ribbed supports for a filter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,157 to Sakai et al shows a coffee maker which has a housing provided with a hinged cover at its top hingedly connected to a housing, the inner side of the cover provided with a receptacle for receiving condensation water. U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,290 to Krasker shows a cup-rim-engaging receptacle 32.
Each of the apparatus of the disclosures above, as well as apparatus generally known in the art, suffer one or more of several defective characteristics which ultimately detract from brewing performance and/or efficient operation of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method of preparing coffee by the drip-type method which resolves the primary brewing defects of drip-type coffee making known to date.